Oncor vendor to transform junk cars into new grid

HOUSTON, March 16

HOUSTON, March 16 Dallas-based Oncor, the state's largest
power delivery company, will use steel towers made from scrap steel for its
$1.3 billion renewable energy transmission project, the company said on
Monday.

The 3,800 steel towers to be built in Texas by Falcon Steel and
supplier Nucor (NUE.N) will be used for 800 miles of transmission lines
designed to bring power from wind farms in the western half of the state to
cities were electricity is consumed, the companies said.

Falcon Steel, based near Fort Worth, will fabricate the 120 to 130-foot
(37 to 40-meter) lattice transmission towers with steel milled from
automotive and industrial scrap metal, Oncor said in a statement.

Nucors Jewett, Texas plant will provide 54,000 tons of steel for the
project.

Texas leads the nation with more than 8,000 megawatts of
wind-generating capacity, an electric source that produces no greenhouse
gas.

Output from wind farms accounted for 4.9 percent of power consumed in
the state in 2008, but the rapid addition of turbines outstripped the
ability of the existing high-voltage network to move the power to the
state's largest cities.

Oncor was among a number of companies approved to build sections of a
$5 billion Texas grid expansion to accommodate additional wind power by
2013. In total, the expansion will add as much as 2,900 miles of power
lines.

Oncor was assigned new lines valued at about $1.3 billion. "Oncor
has a long history of being at the forefront of economic development and
job creation in Texas, from the early days of bringing electricity to rural
areas to our current efforts," said Bob Shapard, Oncor chief executive
officer.

Falcon Steel and Charlotte, North Carolina-based Nucor competed against
larger, international firms to win the Oncor contract, the companies said.

Oncor's distribution and transmission network delivers power to about 3
million homes and businesses. Oncor is owned majority-owned by Energy
Future Holdings Corp and is managed by an independent board of directors.
(Reporting by Eileen O'Grady; Editing by John picinich)